Hit or Bust
by SirDragneel
Summary: Natsu is a dealer on a hunt for the most valuable treasure - information. And he's not stopping until he gets it.
1. Hit or Bust

"Damnit I can never win at this game!"

"Sorry, miss, maybe next time!"

Natsu Dragneel smiled, sending the young, rich, and probably drunk, woman off with a wave. Of course he just told the biggest lie in the universe, seeing as he never lost a game. If there was anything Natsu was good at, it was pulling the wool over people's eyes, and deceiving.

Well maybe combat also fit the bill.

Unbeknownst to the people who entered the small casino parlor, Natsu Dragneel had actually aided the victory of many-a-war, but somewhere down the road, the lives that he took began weighing on his soul too heavily, and eventually, he just kinda stopped.

Of course he still had a way of getting what he wanted. And that was through games. Card games, board games, party games, games of chance, luck, life and death. And after about after about 400 years he had perfected his skill, and could flawlessly outsmart people at any day of the week.

And what he craved now, more than anything else? Information. Information on a person close to him who had gone missing recently. But the odd thing was, why was sniffing him out so hard to do? Tracking was usually one of his strong suits.

Natsu stuffed his deck in his pocket, as another dealer came to take over, forcing Natsu to straighten his tie, before leaving the small establishment, into the dark, damp street. Grimacing, he found it was drizzling out. Now his clothes would be ruined. Great.

Hat now tipped down to keep the rain out of his eyes as he picked up his pace into a light jog. Natsu took cover into a alley, where the roofs were angled in such a way that the water just missed him, allowing the lean man to rest while he waited for the rain to pass.

Natsu paused as he wrung the water out of his tie, hearing voices further down the alley, one of that being a more feminine voice, the other obviously being male. And so, with the utmost delicacy, he crept to the corner, the voices becoming louder as he did so.

"I won already, girlie, now... It's time for my prize."

"W-Wait, best two out of three...?"

"Not interested"

Natsu quickly showed himself before the situation could get anymore dicey than it already was, revealing a blonde girl in a red silky dress, and a guy in a suit, with a pin tacked on the front, looking like two intertwined hammers.

Looks like fate was smiling on Natsu today.

"Mind a change in players?" Natsu practically purred, stepping forward, past the shocked blonde, sizing up the man before him, who had dirty blonde, chin length hair, and animalistic eyes. This one shouldn't be too hard.

"Oh yeah? And what do you want?" His opponent growled, eyes glancing back at the young woman who was to be his prize.

Natsu grinned, the corners of his mouth pulling back to reveal fanged teeth "Double or nothing, shall we?" he insisted "You win, you get both me and the girl, no questions asked." Natsu could faintly hear said girl protesting behind her, but he easily dismissed it.

There was a small pause before the young man across from them raised a thin, curious brow "And if YOU win?"

"You tell us anything we want to know." Natsu reasoned simply "Unless, that is, you're scared to take a chance?" The two men entered a stare off., but Natsu already knew the outcome. Male pride was something so easy to use, it was laughable, really. Not accepting a presented challenge was like saying your own self-doubt to the enemy, at least in their own minds.

It wasn't long before he agreed, albeit, a bit reluctantly, and Natsu walked over, sitting himself across from his new target, crossing one leg over the other.

"What's the game?" The blonde male asked as Natsu pulled his deck from his vest pocket, shuffling the cards expertly.

"A game of wit." Natsu answered, eyes alight with playful mischief , as he set the deck in the middle, of the small, makeshift table. "The game itself is simple. We each pull a card off the top of this deck, and the other must guess what it is. We each have three turns"

The other man looked apprehensive, narrowing his dark eyes at the pink haired guy across from him "Game of wit? More like game of luck. And what if neither gets it right after three turns?" he demanded, making Natsu roll his eyes.

"If it reassures you, if none of us get it within the allotted time, you automatically win." Natsu answered impatiently, waving his hand dismissively, watching his expression turn much more sinister. Natsu couldn't help but smirk. "With the odds stacked up like that, I'd say Lady Luck is in your favor, no?"

Human nature was always so easy to manipulate, and that much hadn't changed over the years. Always so easy to rile them up, and make them walk right into your trap. Even now it was stupidly easy to read them. 'I just have to wait it out and I win!' was such a simple and cowardly thought, and this man would have to try much harder to win against Natsu in cards.

The first two rounds went as anyone would expect, and neither had guessed the others card, which in turn made the gentleman more excited and less focused, as he anticipated his victory.

Well, that was a lie; Natsu knew what the man's card was, but he always enjoyed letting them think they had bested him only to utterly disappoint them again.

"Is it a queen of hearts?" the man said, eyes flashing dangerously as he thought he had already won. But what he hadn't known was that he had lost the moment he crossed paths with Natsu.

"No. And your card is the jack of spades." Natsu said simply, watching his opponent's face drop in seconds.

"H-How-?! You just got lucky!" He barked, standing abruptly, Natsu standing casually after him, chuckling.

"I also know your last two cards you held were a two of diamonds and a 8 of clubs, because you were SO insecure about your game skills, that you swapped out your card on each turn." Natsu stated matter-of-factly, stepping forward to rip the man's sleeve, sending cards scattering from it, and fluttering into the puddles of water around them.

The once cocky individual paled, stepping back "H-How did you-!" he stammered, backing up, gasping as his back hit the wall, Natsu stepping towards him the whole way.

"If you paid any attention to your surroundings, you would've noticed the window directly behind you, which made it easy to see your cards and what you were doing, thanks to the dim sky." Natsu quipped, before reaching out, snagging the terrified person by his suit collar.

"And now, you will tell me." Natsu started coolly, before his gaze hardened, glaring hard enough to set the boy to flames in his hand, and speaking loudly and firmly;

"WHERE. IS. ZEREF?"


	2. The Alliance

**Hello, I would just like to point out, since I apparently didn't convey this with the first part of this story; THIS IS NOT A FULL FLEDGED CHAPTER FIC. The most parts it may have is 3, and that is a HUGE if, because I may not do that. It was originally going to be a one-shot, and it won't really have any romance it, even though I do love it, but it may have teeny tiny NaLu moments.**

 **That is all I wanted to say, and I hope you enjoy what I DO write anyway**

* * *

Natsu sighed as he sat by the river that snaked through the town, grimacing as he tried to wring as much water as possible out of his clothes and thankful that the rain had at least stopped. It seemed to be the only good thing about today so far.

It had taken him months to find one of those gang member bastards or whatever the hell they called themselves. Tartaros was notorious for just being overall asshats, and this one had been no exception. First cheating in cards, then not even answering his question, and then using that chick to distract him and weaseling his way out of it.

Definitely an asshat.

But speaking of the chick, she seemed to be loitering around him, even though he hadn't spoken a word to her, and he was almost worried she might be some kind of thief. Not that stealing from him was possible, but that didn't make it any less worrying.

Finally, he looked back at the girl who was standing behind him, who had her hands linked together behind her back and was watching him closely. Sighing, Natsu stood and faced her fully.

"Ok, I was trying to avoid acknowledging you, but you seem to be intent on making sure I notice you, so tell me; what is it you want from me?" he asked, his voice tinged with annoyance and impatience. Natsu gauged her expression thoroughly, and if he didn't know any better, he'd say that she was about to start asking him things. He was usually right on these things anyway.

"So, um, those guys took someone important to you?" Well, he'd been right on the money, as usual. "They took someone I care about, too."

It was getting a little more difficult to tell which direction she was heading with this, and Natsu would have been lying if he had said it didn't unnerve him, because it did. He had always viewed most people as a new opponent in a game, and he had gotten so good at reading poker faces that he was now able to read pretty much anyone like a child's story book. So why did this girl seem different?

"What are you suggesting, young lady?" Natsu asked, narrowing his eyes and putting his silk hat back onto of his head. He walked over to her in long strides, secretly taking pleasure in how much the simple actions and movements seemed to unsettle her.

The woman cleared her throat nervously, as she seemed to be trying to muster up more courage to be able to get to the point. "Well, I noticed you were good at handling yourself back there, much better than me-"

"Yes, I was."

"The POINT is, can you help me?" Natsu smirked, glad to see that those three little words irritated her as he knew they would. But more than that, he was amused at her plight. What could he possibly gain from that? He would just be babysitting her around the clock, and quite frankly, it sounded like more of a headache than he needed right now.

His eyes scanned over her briefly, trying to see what else he could gather from her, taking in the light from her brown eyes and her posture, most things that usually are dead giveaways towards a person's overall personality. From what he could see, she definitely had an attitude. And a big one at that. But she seemed to be filled with an odd determination, as if glaring and asking nicely would make him agree.

"From the way I see it, princess, I have no gain from helping you. Tell me, what would having you around do for me, personally?" Natsu inquired, his words harsh yet lacking malice.

"For one, the name is Lucy-not princess," the so-called Lucy stated firmly, placing a defiant hand on her hip. "Secondly, maybe feeling good about yourself for being a decent fucking person, huh?"

...Oh, this one certainly had a mouth on her; that was for sure.

"I'm sure the warm, fuzzy, feelings of camaraderie are quite grand, but sadly, it's not quite what I'm after," he informed her, turning on his heel to be rid of her. "Plus, would it not be you who is using me for your own gain? Why do you feel a need to try and make me out as the bad guy for simply asking for something in return?"

Natsu started on his way, hoping the main road wasn't too far from this canal, only hearing the sound of his shoes lightly scuffing against the cobble road before Lucy finally spoke again, just before he was out of sight.

"Ok, fine; I would be using you, but sometimes, when things are at stake, it's necessary we do that in order to win." Now this was an interesting turn of events. "But I've had many encounters with Tartaros before this, so if you help me, I can give you the information I have so that we can both find our precious persons."

Natsu stood in silent shock, quite honestly not having expected that, before he slowly turned to face her, smiling a bit at her way of putting it. "Very true, indeed...I accept," he said, chuckling as her face lit up, and she quickly made her way to his side.

Once Lucy stood before him, he slowly held out his hand to her.

" _May Lady Luck be on our side, and the cards fall where they may."_


End file.
